How Elon Musk Could Change The World With A High-Speed Transportation System Called The Hyperloop

Elon Musk is the most interesting technology entrepreneur in the
world right now.

He's the CEO of electric car company Tesla, CEO of space
exploration company SpaceX, and chairman of solar power
installation company Solar City.

In his spare time, he says he came up with a way to get people
from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes.

He calls it the "Hyperloop" and he says he's going to reveal his
plan for how it could work on August 12.

Last July, he outlined his
vision for the Hyperloop:

"This system I have in mind,
how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to
weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet
train. It goes an
average speed of twice what an aircraft would do. You would go
from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes.
It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other
mode of transport. I think we could actually make it
self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more
power than you would consume in the system. There's a way to
store the power so it would run 24/7 without using batteries.
Yes, this is possible, absolutely."

While it sounds like a crazy
dream, there's research to suggest it's a
possibility.

In 1972, Rand Corporation
scientist R.M. Salter published
a 17-page report detailing how something like the Hyperloop
could be a reality.

Salter called his
transportation system the Very High Speed Transit, or
VHST.

"The general principles are
fairly straightforward: electromagnetically levitated and
propelled cars in an evacuated tunnel," said Salter.

Rand Corporation

The VHST, as envisioned by Salter, would be vacuum sealed tubes
buried underground. They would go from Los Angeles to Amarillo,
Texas to Chicago to New York city. At each major stop there would
be offshoots to take you to major cities.

"The VHST's 'tubecraft'
ride on, and are driven by, electromagnetic waves much as a
surfboard rides the ocean's wave," said Salter. "The EM waves are
generated by pulsed, or by oscillating, currents in electrical
conductors that form the roadbed structure in the evacuated tube
way. Opposing magnetic fields in the vehicle are generated means
of a loop superconducting cable carrying on the order of a
million amperes of current."

The VHST could travel as fast
as 14,000 miles per hour, allowing for a trip between
Los Angeles and New York City in under 30 minutes in a straight
trip.

Importantly, Salter didn't
believe there was much holding back the VHST from a technological
perspective: "The
technical problems associated with the VHST development are
manifold and difficult — but no scientific breakthroughs are
required," said Salter at the time.

He considered construction of
the VHST a political problem. Digging giant tunnels underground
isn't something that every town is willing to
accept.

When Musk finally reveals his master plan for the Hyperloop,
let's hope he includes a plan for how to get local, state, and
federal government on board.

Because without political support, the Hyperloop is destined to
be as much a reality as the VHST.